to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
~ Derek Walcott
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The above is excerpted from Walcott's poem "Love after Love" in Collected Poems 1948-1984 (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1986; paperback edition, 1987). It is one of Walcott's most well-known and quoted poems.
Poet Kim Rosen's recitation of the poem can be found here. Text is here (Roger Housden's Ten Poems to Change Your Life [Harmony, 2001] on GoogleBooks).
Derek Walcott Biography at Nobelprize.org
Walcott was awarded the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. His Nobel Lecture is here. Go here for a bibliography. A 2005 video interview and a 2000 audio interview are here.
Derek Walcott on FaceBook
The New York Times Article and Resources
The Moon
ReplyDeleteshines
on a cat
Meow
As a native Swede,I am particularly proud of my love poetry suite Sonnets for Katie.
My Poems
My wallpaper art Babes!)
Yours,
- Peter Ingestad, Sweden
This is wonderful. I love how you provide us with so many resources, lovely thoughts, amazing art in your blog. Thank you always.
ReplyDeleteIf only that could be more easily done ...
ReplyDeleteVery wise lines from a very wise poem.
ReplyDeleteincredible quote. I am saving it.
ReplyDelete